Even Heroes
by WellingtonBoot
Summary: Cloud comes home one night injured beyond Tifa's belief. She keeps her cool while tending to his injuries but finds herself upset. Another night Cloud comes home to find the bar ransacked. He needs to find Tifa quickly before it's too late to save her.
1. Even Heroes

**Even Heroes**

The low rumble of the large engine barely stirred the occupants of Seventh Heaven in their beds. The moon shone brightly through the windows casting dark blue shadows across the rooms and the peaceful figures tucked up in their blankets. Then the low poetic growling eased out in a brisk cut of the ignition and the innocent sound of a small metal key hitting the hard garage floor was heard by nobody, not even he who dropped it. The wind howled a little outside in the moonlight as he began to make his way into the more homely part of the house, starting with the bar adjacent to the garage.

Tifa was unconsciously stretching her fingers out in her sleep, enveloped in a subconscious and peaceful nothingness, while the climber of the stairs' heavy breathing began to bounce, unheard, off the walls of the landing. Rasping as quietly as it could from the dirt and stones amongst other things stuck in its throat, it slumped every other footstep into the other making the floorboards creak. There was a loud thud against the door frame closest to Tifa's room and then one last painful gasp. Upon hearing the sound Tifa began to open her eyes. At that moment there was the hard crash of a body onto the wooden floor outside and she was suddenly very awake, pulling her nightgown from her bedpost. She threw it on and opened the door.

"Cloud!"

She hastily hooked her arms underneath his shoulders and began to pull up his tattered form.

"What's wrong with Cloud?"

Denzel and Marlene had appeared from behind their door, weary-eyed and concerned in their confusion.

"It's okay. I can look after him. Go back to bed, okay?"

Reluctantly they pulled the door closed as they watched her manage to support him on her right shoulder with one of his arms as leverage around her other shoulder. As she'd adjusted to his weight she'd thought she'd heard him laugh.

She took him down the hallway and set him down on the edge of the bath in the bathroom and turned on the light, took off his boots and then his gloves. There she stopped. The gloves were torn right through. The back of his left hand was nothing but a red mess of ripped off skin. She carefully pulled it off nonetheless and set them to one side. He was barely holding himself up as she rushed through the cupboards to find the disinfectant. He nearly fell into the bath before managing to snatch at a wall tile and push himself back up by his fingertips. Her head snapped round in concern. She'd noticed he wasn't opening his eyes properly either.

She stopped her search for a moment and slid her hands around his face to see him better in the light. He made an effort to open his eyes but couldn't focus on her properly and she felt a hollowing feeling in her heart. It was then she noticed the scratches, cuts, rips, tares, all adorned by dirt and dust and streaks of blood, all down his body and clothes. She took a deep breath as she took it all in and then hurried back to the sink to finish preparing the disinfectant.

"I collided...with something..." he attempted to explain but she didn't push him. Her heartbeat was throbbing in her ears.

She brought a bowl of murky white liquid to beside his feet and wetted a cloth in it. She dabbed at a deep cut on the left side of his face and then down the gashes of his arms. She began to find, to her relief, that he was recovering a little.

His sweater was almost torn apart and she removed that too, finding a cut deep into the underneath of his right breast and a large graze down his stomach. They were deep and jaggedly cut, looking like the result of the relentless shearing of sharp rocks through skin. She had to resist the urge to turn away and recover as she wasn't used to seeing Cloud so badly hurt, at all in fact, and took back up the damp cloth.

"Hold still," she said to him.

He let out a horrible yell and thumped his fists against the walls, sending soaps to scatter round the bath and the light fixture above them to swing as she pressed the cloth firmly against his chest. Shadows danced about their faces, distorting Cloud's already tense face. He was still clasping his fists as she applied the disinfectant a second time but this time he was able to hold himself still through the pain. She also remained fast in her position. It was for his own good.

As she dipped the cloth in again for the graze on his stomach she bit her lip as she saw the blood curling about artfully, mixing with the chemicals and water in the bowl. She took another deep breath, retrieving the cloth again and wrung it tight. She turned back to Cloud.

"Stop!" Cloud was suddenly much more awake.

"I have to, Cloud, or it might get infected," she protested.

"But it will hurt," he swallowed.

She narrowed her eyes. "Then you shouldn't have got so badly hurt!"

Her voice had shook; he backed down.

She applied the cloth. His whole body tensed and his mouth hissed. He remained tense as the acute stinging began to ease and he began to adjust.

"Besides, I would have thought you'd be used to this with all the fights you used to get into." She smiled in an attempt to distract them both.

He was silent for a while as she finished disinfecting the wound. He finally replied, "They were over you." Her eyes lost a little focus and she didn't look up.

_I know._

When she was finished, both disinfecting and bandaging his wounds, she stood up and began rummaging through the cupboards again. She then cursed and disappeared into the hallway while Cloud tried to keep himself upright and ignored the impulse to bend over and hug his stinging wounds. She finally arrived back with a pair of his trousers that he'd often wear to bed and a couple of pain-killers.

"I don't need them."

"Take them or you won't sleep," she replied firmly.

He studied her facial expression before realising this wasn't something he was going to win, certainly not in his state, and swallowed them down. She cleared away the bloodied disinfectant solution as he managed to slowly slide on his trousers from his perch on the bath, having politely refused her help. He wanted that much control at least. But then, as he began to stand up, his legs, strained from the fall from his bike, faltered under the pain. She managed to catch him just in time.

She helped him back along the hallway in the same fashion that they'd come. She slowly propped him against the door frame of his bedroom and found her way inside. He saw the glow of his bedside light come on and the sound of bedclothes being pulled backwards across the bed. She re-emerged and helped him back off the wall. He was smiling to himself as she manoeuvred him through the doorway, keeping her firm grip on his arms.

_She has no idea that this feels just like it did several years ago..._

Lining up alongside his bed, she began to help ease him backwards but found herself caught under his weight. They both fell backwards. The mattress compressed softly as they collided with it and each other and she found herself wrapped in his arms beside him on the bed. The room remained silent for a long time. He made no effort to move his arms. She feared to move in case she hurt him. But then she forgot about everything else in the room, her own bed, the moon outside, the wind brushing past the window, and let herself sink into his chest, gripping lightly at his skin, savouring that he was okay.

A few moments more and she let herself up, being careful of his injuries. His left hand trailed uselessly against her side as she pulled away and then pulled the bed sheets over his bandaged form. She bent over, turned off the bedside light and moved towards the door, but then he stopped her with a single word:

"Sorry."

His voice was raw from the dust and stones he'd inhaled. It made her heart feel as if it twisted as she turned to face him.

"What for?" she uttered.

"You're always here to look after me... but all I want to do is to look after you, Marlene and Denzel."

She let her eyes close briefly as a calm emotion rushed over her and she made her way to come beside his bed. Taking his rigid left forearm in her hands, she bent down so that her mouth was next to his ear and said, "Even heroes need looking after." She then let herself kiss him softly on the cheek.

He stared after her as she made for his door again, his arm yet again useless to him, but felt something ease in his chest. She paused briefly and then gently closed the door behind her. He was left with the image of her in her nightgown, in the hall's dim light with a sweet smile across her face.

He didn't let that image go as he closed his eyes and let it linger in his memory as he fell asleep. Despite everything, it was the most peaceful sleep he had had for a long time.


	2. Even Heroines

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_**Author's Note: **Now it's Tifa's turn to be looked after. This is written under the assumption that her and Cloud are together._

* * *

**Even Heroines**

"Long day," Cloud muttered to himself as he dismounted Fenrir and kicked the support bar out from underneath it. The garage was cold and the window panes were icy with the impending frost of the coming morning. His shoulders shivered in a rolling action.

He was setting his swords into their steel cabinet on the adjacent wall when he caught sight of the door to the bar. It was wide open. He had told Tifa not to bother locking the garage doors but he always told her to lock the one to the bar. Something unsettled inside him.

He climbed the steps and eyed the door. It didn't looked like it had been kicked-in, forced or wrenched open. But when he looked closer with his mako-enhanced eyes he could see little splints of wood fraying around a foot mark in the woodwork, as if someone had given it a small kick as a test. Cloud's eyes narrowed into the darkness and saw that a lot of the framed pictures were missing, the cash-register was open, the storeroom door was open in the distance, and even the phone had been ripped from its socket.

_Where the hell is Tifa?_

One step at a time he climbed the stairs to the landing and looked around. Nothing. He instinctively checked on the children first and was happy to find them sound asleep in their beds, in their blankets and among their stuffed toys. With hopefulness he checked in Tifa's room. She wasn't there.

Maintaining his soldier-trained stealth he began to move quietly across the landing to check back downstairs, but then he heard a drip, drip, drip echoing from the depths of the bathroom and stopped. He approached the slightly ajar bathroom door and pushed.

He saw nothing in the darkness at first, just the slight white glow of the pale wallpaper and ivory enamel of the bath. Then a momentary glint of of light pierced his eye and died away again, followed by the soft sound of skin sliding over enamel, flesh gliding into water. Tifa's ring was staring at him from the lip of the bathtub about to sink in with her.

"Tifa!"

He tore away from his position in the doorway. She was ghostly white, a white statue in the freezing water, almost fully submerged. His hands dived into the water and ripped her out. Water soaked through his gloves and up his sleeves but he didn't care. He set her down swiftly on the tiled floor. She wasn't breathing. He tilted her head back, placed his lips over hers and breathed into her again, and again, and again. She remained motionless until he shook his head in a final defiance and breathed into her lungs once more. Coughing and spluttering she came back to life, still seeming unconscious as she rolled onto her side.

Cloud looked to the towels on the rack and pulled free the largest two he could. He wrapped her in them but all she could do was shiver violently and breath in small and rapid breaths. He rubbed the last of the water out of her hair and began to pick her up.

There was a shuffle behind him. All at once he became an alert beacon of anger. He slowly rose to face the bathroom wall opposite and stayed there, seeing if the intruder would dare to make a move with his back turned. Cloud then span to face them, seeing a murky blur of fabric running out of sight. Cloud sprinted to the top of the stairs and launched himself down the steps, slamming into the faceless man. Pulling violently on his collar he smashed him into the nearest wall.

As he studied the snivelling face he realised the blur was merely a boy, not even fifteen years old. He was terrified.

"I didn't mean it... I'm just looking for stuff for my family, my sister, we have nothing," he choked.

"You came here?" Cloud spat back. The brat was probably lying. His clothes were too new.

The boy swallowed, trembling where he stood, almost crying. "I heard this place made loads of money."

"And Tif-"

He quickly caught on to who Tifa was and screeched, "Or I would have got caught! She was still breathing when I looked!"

"She was drown-" and then Cloud remembered her upstairs, still barely able to breath while he was down there wasting time. He released his fierce grip and turned to head back up the stairs. But then he stopped. He turned his attention back to the boy.

"Get out."

The boy scampered away, tears rolling down his cheeks, firmly shutting the door to the garage behind him. He even shut the garage door as best as he could from the outside before running off into the night.

Cloud had already scooped Tifa's shivering form into his arms and lowered her into bed. He rummaged through draws for tops, trousers, socks, hand warmers, whatever he could find to help warm her up, dressing her as he went. He went to the airing cupboard and found more blankets to cover her with, closed the bedroom door to stop any kind of draft, ensured the bedroom window was closed tight and then finally came under the sheets himself and pulled her as close to him as he could. She was still shaking as he lowered his head into her hair. He was careful to make sure her frozen hands were being warmed in between his torso and her own.

_Let this be enough._

_***_

Tifa awoke slowly with the approach of daylight flitting through the blinds. She felt horrible and feverish. Wishing she'd never woken up, she turned her head back into the pillow. There was then a timid a knock at the door, but it felt like someone was pounding her skull with a sledgehammer. She pulled herself gently from Cloud's tight embrace only to find herself gaping at her ghostly reflection in the mirror. She was was fully clothed as if she was ready to go out sledging in winter. She turned her head down to Cloud and found he was also fully clothed. Dubiously she turned back to herself. Several layers of clothes with the top few layers being Cloud's own shirts. She shook the away the puzzlement and turned her attention back to the door. "You can come in."

Marlene came in fully dressed and ready for school, her eyes bright and awake.

"Tifa, where are our lunches again?" She then looked closer at Tifa's face. "Wow, you look awful."

Tifa smoothed over her brow as she tried to push back the headache and slight nausea that had appeared from the stuffy air circling about her head. "I'll show you where they are."

"No you don't," Cloud said, grabbing her arm and pushing her back into bed. She hadn't realised he was awake.

"Cloud, what are you-"

"I'll do it. You need to rest. Don't move."

"You don't even know where they are."

"We'll manage. Just stay under the covers."

"Cloud, I'm boiling! Why am I wearing your shirts anyway?"

"Just stay there." With that he strode out the room, closing the door behind him.

She was about to call to him in annoyance before she felt the sickness rising again and ended up curling her head into her arms. It felt like someone had been rattling stones around in her skull, and violently.

Cloud reappeared merely minutes later with a hot water bottle. "Hold onto this."

"I'm really hot... I don't think I need it, Cloud."

"Do you feel hot, or do you feel both hot and cold all at once?"

She didn't answer but it was the latter. He took it as an answer and handed it to her before going back downstairs. She wondered if she was going to die from her head exploding or her blood boiling first.

When he'd seen the children out of the door he returned upstairs with a pint glass of water. "Drink this."

She took it gratefully and soon had to sink into the bed again out of pure feverishness. As he looked properly at her as she tried to fall asleep he felt better. His anxiety reduced. The color had returned to her cheeks, she was talking fine, and despite her flu-like fever she was back to normal. He slid back under the covers as she continued to doze and wrapped his arms around her, moving the hot water bottle aside. He tucked his head back into her hair, but lightly enough not to aggravate her headache.

"So why are you trying to cook me again?" she said faintly, trying to tease him.

"I was scared you were hypothermic," was his simple answer.

She wasn't sure how that would make any sense until she looked back over her memory. She'd been relaxing underneath the surface of the bathwater when she'd thought she'd heard the door open. She'd resurfaced and turned towards the door to see whether it was Marlene or Denzel, or even Cloud, when she'd seen a fast moving blur and the whoosh of a heavy object. Everything had blacked out. She must have passed out in the bath; hit her head on the side or something.

"Oh I see," she replied.

He held her silently a moment more before saying, "And, Tifa, always check the door to the bar is locked."

"But I did. I always do." She attempted to remember.

"Double check it then," he said gently.

Too feverish to say any more she quietly nodded her head so that he would feel it against his chest and then let herself fall back into a calm doze.

"I'll be here until you get better," he murmured into her ear. _Don't worry about anything. _

He continued to hold her as she fell back to sleep. He gently sighed as he heard her breathing deepen and calm. She was fine. She was going to be alright. As always, he had been just in time, even if just a little late.

He was her knight in shining armor.


End file.
